Sand Filter Help..Filter Won't Work After Vacuuming
by Sue
Last year, the filter was working fine. After vaccuuming the pool, the filter would not work properly. It wasn't getting up enough pressure. I replaced the ball valve (@$140.00), and all was working well, til I vaccuumed again. Now it won't build up pressure again. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. This is my 10th season with this pool and this system and I just can't figure this out for the life of me! Thanks for the question Sue Here's a good post to start with. It has a cartridge filter, but the troubleshooting is the same. Maintaining Vacuum Suction..Loss Of Suction With A Cartridge Filter.. Does the system lose pressure while you're vacuuming? If it does, it could be a crack or hole on the hose. How do you know there's no pressure? Do you check the pressure gauge or is there no water in the pump pot? An easy way to see if the gauge is working is to turn the system off. If the needle sticks, the gauge is probably bad and needs to be replaced. If the needle drops to zero, you may have a suction side or skimmer leak. Be sure the water level is up 1/3 - 1/2 from the bottom of the skimmer. Here's another good post: Why Is Air Getting Into The Sand Filter & Pump? Here are other things to look for: *Low water levels *Skimmer weir stuck *A broken suction line from the skimmer to the pool pump motor *Loose pump lid or bad gasket *Loose fittings in and out of the pump *Clogged pump basket *Worn our pump seal *Bad or old sand. Maybe it needs to be degreased. All these might allow air into the system. Check out this post. A little long, but lots of good stuff: How Do I Fix Low Skimmer Suction? If you have more than 1 skimmer, you can try this, but be very careful. Turn the system off. Slowly close the valve you normally vacuum with and leave the other valve open. What you're doing is closing off a valve and forcing the other one to do the job. Turn the system back on. If you don't lose suction or water in the pump pot, the other skimmer is fine. Do the same, only opposite. Open both valves, then close the one you DON'T vacuum with and leave the other one open. If you do lose suction or water flow, then the problem is the suction in the skimmer. If you vacuum from the skimmer, this might be the problem. Either a broken line or clog. Then it's time to call a repairman. Try that along with the links above. Hope this helps and have a fun and safe Summer. Robert |
